[2]I’ve mentioned Better Weekdaysas it was being built[3]; then launching in Alpha[4]; then focusing on Chicago schools[5]. It is now[6] launching in Beta, and is changing a bit. It was matching MBA grads to companies; now, it’s focusing on the top 50 U.S. universities. Companies buy a subscription to access candidates who have come through campus career centers and have been assessed and matched using the Better Weekdays’ assessment called JobScript. Better has signed on SC Johnson and is talking to Dow Corning, Lenovo, and others. The company has also started to sell its assessment to companies for use with current employees, not just candidates. Founder Chris Motley says the assessment “was developed with input from leading professionals in the assessment space on the belief that one will be happy when a job simultaneously taps their motivations, abilities, and personality.”

“Friends Don’t Let Friends Use Job Boards,” says CareerSonar[9]. The New York City startup gives job seekers a ranking of how well connected they are to a company with a job opening. It’s based on a candidate’s insider access, which is based on, among other factors, who their Facebook and LinkedIn networks show they’re connected to.

TrueAbility[10] has raised money for its screening product, which will “validate IT job candidate skills on a real server in the cloud — allowing them to demonstrate their abilities in technologies relevant to the job they are applying for.”

This new resume reader tool[12] from Vitamin T could perhaps spark ideas for similar tools to be developed. Roll over parts of the resume, and a little analysis comes up.

HireVue launched a new tool[13] where “candidates showcase their coding abilities through a series of challenges during the digital interviewing process.” Recruiters/hiring managers can review candidates’ coding results as well as their responses to video interview questions. More here[14].

Tomigo[15] is a seven-employee outfit out of startup-heavy Israel. The firm is working to establish a presence in the U.S. It offers another way to spread the word on social media, using your own employees’ networks, that you have jobs open. Decent-size (several hundred to several thousand employees) firms have signed on, including one called EZchip and another called Matrix.